Appy Hour

Action Words-Free

First, they give you 4 pictures and give you an action word.  The goal is for the student to pick the corresponding action word.  Once we've decided which one it goes with, before I let them touch the picture we have to talk about the other 3 pictures.  "What is he doing?", "He's jumping over the water." etc.

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What Does Not Belong?-Free

Great game for categorizing, describing functions, and answering "why" questions. 

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Let's Build A Bedroom- Free

Make sure your students are listening, because this app gives you clues to what item they are talking about and tells you where to put each item in the bedroom i.e. "What tells time and wakes you up with an alarm? Move it to the table."

Happy "Appy" Hour J

Why I Do What I Do

I’m often asked how I got interested in speech and language pathology.  To tell you the truth, I grew up wanting to be an architect.  I interned at an architecture firm, took AutoCAD and interior design in highschool, started out my time at K-State as an architecture major.  Needless to say, I didn’t last very long in that architecture program.  I hated the fact that I was stuck in studio for entire days not talking to anyone and drawing line after line after line.  When I called my parents to tell them I was dropping out of that program I got the obvious question “Well what do you want to do then?” I had no clue.  I looked into classes and found Intro to Communication Sciences and Disorders.  My youngest cousin struggled with Apraxia as a child and my aunt Sharon, being the go-getter, I shall conquer all, woman that I look up to, started the network for parents and professionals to get information related to Childhood Apraxia of Speech.  You may know it as CASANA or have used the website www.apraxia-kids.org.  If any of you have had the pleasure of meeting her you can see the passion she has to help children and parents.  She's my aunt so I can brag on her, right?!

So back to the story, I took this intro class and loved it.  I loved the anatomy, the physiology, the medical side of it all.  I went through the rest of my 3 years really enjoying all my SLP classes.  Then it was time for graduate school.  I don’t like to admit this, but I didn’t get into any of the schools I applied to my first go-round.  I was heartbroken. Every time one of those letters arrived in my mailbox, I felt like I needed “REJECT” tattooed on my forehead.  I felt defeated like maybe being an SLP wasn't in my cards.  What was I going to do now? So being the planner, like all SLPs tend to be, I needed a plan of attack for the next year.  Would I just hang around and re-apply in the winter? That was not an option financially, so I applied for a para-professional job in the public schools.  I got a call for an interview, and as it turns out it was the elementary school that I went to as a child.  A little girl at the school needed a 1:1 and I was lucky enough to get the job.  Still being disappointed that I wasn’t starting graduate school with my peers, I didn’t realize that this was the best possible thing that could have ever happened to me.  If there is such a thing as soul mates, I found one of mine in Elizabeth.  Elizabeth and I were inseparable and not just because we had to be. 

Elizabeth has cerebral palsy, is in a wheelchair, has a feeding tube and is non-verbal.  Elizabeth also has the greatest smile, best laugh and can make a bad day better with a simple trusting look in the eyes.  I cannot even begin to tell you everything Elizabeth taught me.  If I had to name a few, they would be compassion, patience, hope, gratitude, the hilarity of hitting myself in the head and of course the many things I learned by going with her to OT, PT, speech etc.  I now look back on my “reject” year and wonder if I would be the same person I am today without the opportunity to work with the wonderful people I worked with, and the wonderful child I worked with.  My “reject” year to me now is known as my “lucky” year.  If I didn’t believe in things happen for a reason, I sure do now.  The next year I did get into graduate school, and I can’t help but think that my experience helped me get into those schools.  Elizabeth continues to be a big part of my life.  I may not physically see her everyday, but I have pictures of her up in my classroom and I think of her everyday.  Anytime I get frustrated with my job and all the paperwork piled up on my desk I remember why I do this everyday.  I’m helping children communicate, something so many people take for granted.  While we might not make all the money in the world, we can go home each day knowing that we’ve helped a child get a voice of their own.  That’s huge! 
I think every SLP has at least one student that has changed their life and inspired them.  For me it was Elizabeth, and I’m so grateful to her and her wonderful family.  So here is a big thank you to all the people that got me to this place, and thanks to Elizabeth for inspiring me everyday and teaching me so much. 

Happy Better Speech and Hearing Month

If you're visiting this site and not quite sure what a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) is, or you're a student trying to understand what it takes to be an SLP here is a great handout from SuperDuper Inc.

Here are some posters and other handouts from Speaking of Speech.

Here is a great article that gives parents a "check list" of sorts to help them decide if their child might need assistance from an SLP. 

These handouts are amazing from Live, Speak, Love

I had a request for some ideas on how to incorporate BSHM for our preschool kiddos.  Depending on their level of language and understanding, you could talk about how to take care of your voice and how there are different levels of vocal intensity.  I have a chart on my chalkboard that I have to use with kids all the time.  It's pretty basic, but does the trick.  Here it is for you to download.  You could do a matching game of sorts and have them decide what voice they should use during certain circumstances,  "You're in a library, which voice do you use?" "Use the whisper voice." etc.  I think this is a good opportunity to talk about the parts of our body that we use for speech.  Get a cut-out of a person and have labels for lungs, larynx, tongue, nose, brain, ears, teeth, lips etc. 

Discounted apps galore at SuperDuper Inc., Smarty Ears, PocketSLP , Hamaguchi , Sounding Board

Check back tomorrow to find out what made me become an SLP.

End Of The Week SLP Blues-Mother's Day Edition

Mother's Day is right around the corner.  I wanted to make sure my students thanked their mom the way they deserve to be thanked!  Here are some ideas to help your kids create a thank you (click on the title to see original post):

Language:

Social Story About Mother's Day
Use this to introduce your activities. 

Descriptive Words + Picture of Mom
This activity was supposed to be for math, but I think it would be great to use in speech.  Each student has to go to different stations where they have to ask for items, how much does it cost etc.  Then they can explain to the group how they made their picture of mom. 

Mother's Day Step Book
This would be cute if you had the topic of "Thank you Mom for..." and then each step of the book had something the child was thankful about regarding their mom. 

Mother's Day Sequencing Activity
This particular idea has a favorite recipe from your mom, but you could have the kids come up with and sequence their "Perfect Day With Mom."

My Mom Has...
Thought this was really cute.  Have the kids draw pictures of their mom and then talk about "My mom has feet to dance with me.", "My mom has arms to wrap around me and hug me." etc. 

Mother's Day Newspaper
This is a fun fill-in-the-blank activity

Mother's Day Adjective Flower
I feel like I should make my mom this craft! She'd still put it on the fridge or up at work guaranteed! I can see it now...." Did your granddaughter make this for you?", "No, my daughter in her late twenties!"-Love you Mom



Articulation:

Mother's Day Acronym
If you're feeling optimistic then you could do this activity with your older kids.  Have them come up with words that have their sound in it, that also describes their mom.  Then figure out if the words have the letters to make up the word "Mother" or maybe just "Mom"....don't want you all pulling your hair out or anything.

My Mom Is...
Just use the first part of the last page in this download and work on descriptive words and/or descriptive words that have specific articulation targets in them. 
If you want to get more creative with this idea you could make this cute ice cream cone. 

Love You To Pieces Card
This might be seriously reaching for it, but you could get newspapers or magazines and have your students cut out items that have their sound in it.  Then they have to glue all the pictures into the shape of a heart for the card.  This is one of those gifts that only a mother of a child with a speech impairment could love.  J

Apps:
I Love Mom Picture Book-free

This book has wonderful pictures and you can even change the words and record your own book to go along with the pictures.  This would be great for you language kids.  They can re-create the story that goes along with the pictures. 




I would just like to say that I have been so touched by the emails I've received from mom's out there that do everything they can to help support their kids and their speech and language development.  You guys are amazing and your children are extremely lucky to have you. 

Happy Mother's Day

Appy Hour

5 more weeks of school, 5 more weeks of school, 5 more weeks of school...

Dragon Dictation-Free
I used this with some of my kids that are working on getting their sounds in conversation.  They say a sentence and Dragon Dictation writes what they think you said.  My kids had to really articulate all the sounds so that it said their sentence. 

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Dog Story-Free
This helped get the conversation started about opposites. I also have the kids act out the opposites as we read the story. 

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Seasons!-Free
Love this one! A scene pops up with a voice describing what kind of weather is happening.  The kids have to figure out what doesn't belong. (ex. someone shouldn't wear gloves and a scarf in the middle of summer).  Lots of good conversation happened while playing this game!

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Comparative Adjectives-Free
An entire app dedicated to talking about comparative words (big, bigger, biggest).  I used this with a group and also read the book "Pig, Pigger, Piggest".  Then each kid had a turn to grab three objects around the room and put them in order and another student had to decide what comparative words to use. 

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Pediastaff's TxTools-Free

This is a brand new app just put out by Pediastaff.  There are 4 features to this app: Tally This, Percent Right, Age Finder and IEP Scheduler.  I have already started using the Percent Right feature with my articulation groups.  Each kid gets a turn to listen to a friend and decide if they said the word right or wrong.  It is super helpful that there is an "undo", because my kids were getting a little heavy handed with the "right" button.  Also, the age-finder is great when getting ages for evals. 

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AbleNet's Sounding Board AAC-Free for a limited time

This app is switch accessible and really user friendly.  Just add pictures from the picture bank they already have or you can upload your own pictures.  Then you label the picture and can even record to make it a voice output device.  I'm not sure how long this will be free, so get it while it is!



Happy "Appy" Hour J

May Take-Home Program

May is a crazy month, so here are take-home programs made and ready to send home.

May Articulation Homework

May Language Homework

Keep checking back, I will have a summer program to send home with your students.

Important Reminders

I think it's really easy to get caught up in our jobs, life and everyday stressors.  Sometimes it's easy to get frustrated with parent demands, but in the end those parents make or break all your hard work.  They are hugely important in the success of your students! It's so important to remind yourself what these parents are going through on a daily basis with their child. Here is a great article written by a parent that puts things into perspective. Click on the picture to head to the link.   

Make sure to check back on Thursday for the "End Of The Week SLP Blues-Mother's Day Edition"